To Spectatus. (358/59)
Why should I not tell you the things with which I delight myself? I delight myself by imagining I see your affairs and exclaiming at each one: "Now our Spectatus is not far from the emperor! Now he is very close! Now he is at the emperor's side, narrating his journey to Persia — the rivers he crossed, the lands he traversed, the peoples, his manner of life, the speeches he delivered on his embassy."
And the emperor, with a gentle expression showing his pleasure, praises the rhetorician and, seeking an honor for him, finds none greater than to send him again.
Spectatus reluctantly agrees, but then remembers a certain rhetorician who is his friend, to whom he makes splendid promises but does not deliver even small ones, persuading himself that a laugh and a kiss on the head are enough, and the charge is settled.
Such are the things over which I partly rejoice and partly complain without vexation. As for the pepper — I had the highest hopes for it, received the least of it, and laugh heartily, seeing you as a student of the general Chares, at least when it comes to promises.
But that horse you gave to Bassianus proves me a slanderer. Indeed! For it is one of those whose ancestor is Boreas [the North Wind]. Naturally it needs a gale to move, and unless a strong wind hits, it stays put like a stone.
I believe it will even do what Xanthus [Achilles' horse] did — under a multitude of blows, let out a human voice. Such is the quality of horseflesh you have found for us.
Why should I not tell you the things with which I delight myself? I delight myself by imagining I see your affairs and exclaiming at each one: "Now our Spectatus is not far from the emperor! Now he is very close! Now he is at the emperor's side, narrating his journey to Persia — the rivers he crossed, the lands he traversed, the peoples, his manner of life, the speeches he delivered on his embassy."
And the emperor, with a gentle expression showing his pleasure, praises the rhetorician and, seeking an honor for him, finds none greater than to send him again.
Spectatus reluctantly agrees, but then remembers a certain rhetorician who is his friend, to whom he makes splendid promises but does not deliver even small ones, persuading himself that a laugh and a kiss on the head are enough, and the charge is settled.
Such are the things over which I partly rejoice and partly complain without vexation. As for the pepper — I had the highest hopes for it, received the least of it, and laugh heartily, seeing you as a student of the general Chares, at least when it comes to promises.
But that horse you gave to Bassianus proves me a slanderer. Indeed! For it is one of those whose ancestor is Boreas [the North Wind]. Naturally it needs a gale to move, and unless a strong wind hits, it stays put like a stone.
I believe it will even do what Xanthus [Achilles' horse] did — under a multitude of blows, let out a human voice. Such is the quality of horseflesh you have found for us.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.